The Colombian government said Tuesday that it will demobilize over 4,000 fighters of the far-right United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) by the end of this year.

The first batch of 1,462 AUC fighters will be demobilized on Nov. 3 under the timetable reached between Bogota and the 20,000-strong armed group, said government negotiation representative Carlos Moreno de Caro.

The AUC formally began peace negotiations with the government earlier in June.

Medical checks and job training programs will be arranged for the demobilized combatants. But those who committed crimes against humanity and drug trafficking must be brought to justice, said de Caro.

The AUC, one of Colombia's largest right-wing paramilitaries originally set up to fight leftist guerrillas, is accused of massacres, collective murders, kidnappings and crimes against humanity.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade civil war, in which leftist rebels, far-right paramilitaries and government troops fight each other, killing about 3,500 people every year.

Source: Xinhua